Everyone knows that Russia is a massive country but as a golfing nation it’s tiny. A decade ago, golf in Russia was a novelty and the preserve of wealthy diplomats rather than a serious professional sport. But things are changing and the pleasures of the Royal & Ancient game are slowly but surely being discovered.
Russia
Russia
The “ultra-luxury country club” of Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club offers invited members access to a 1,000-acre sports facility...
The first Russian Jack Nicklaus Signature course appeared at Tseleevo Golf & Polo Club in 2008 and six years elapsed before the second one arrived at Skolkovo Golf Club in Moscow...
The English father and son team of Dave and Paul Thomas designed Pestovo Golf & Yacht Club as a Russian championship course that will compete with Moscow CC in terms of quality and challenge.
The brief from the Russian client when European Golf Design worked on the Zavidovo PGA National course was to produce a layout capable of hosting professional events so this track offers golf on a big scale.
The MillCreek Country Club course is the centrepiece of a major residential development outside Saint Petersburg which features an innovative “kaleidescope golf” routing from Ross McMurray of European Golf Design, allowing many alternative playing options.
Founded by billionaire businessman Aras Agalarov from Azerbaijan, the Agalarov Estate lies an hour’s drive west of downtown Moscow, with holes routed around an extensive residential development next to a dammed section of the Belyana River.
Designed by Lassi Pekka Tilander, the course at Gorki Golf & Resort sits around seventy kilometres southwest of Saint Petersburg. Built in two phases in the style of an inland links, the layout incorporates wide fairways and large, multiform bunkers.
The 18-hole layout at AK Bars Golf Resort is positioned on the north bank of the River Volga in Kazan, with holes constructed by the Engo Group to a design by Harradine Golf. The project, led by Michael Harradine from his father Peter and colleague Matt Osborne, involved excavating three lakes to provide enough fill to raise the fairways on the flood-prone site by two metres.
Located outside the small village of Matveykovo, around 85 kilometres northwest of Moscow, the course at Forest Hills Golf Club is an Arthur Hills and Steve Forrest design that forms only one component of an enterprising 1,100-acre development.
